


The Hunter's Moon

by vincentvandope



Series: Howlkyuu!! [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Gen, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29006634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vincentvandope/pseuds/vincentvandope
Summary: Just when Hinata was getting comfortable with being a werewolf, hunters arrive to Sendai, and they are not playing games. The Karasuno pack isn’t alone against this new threat, but still, nothing is promised. It’s a fight for their lives and their loved ones, and death seems to lurk around every corner.(a sequel to Howlkyuu!!)
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Shimizu Kiyoko/Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Series: Howlkyuu!! [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2127321
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27





	1. How Fast The Night Changes

Hinata’s biggest concern should have been his second full moon as a werewolf, which was already starting to show in the clear evening sky, but at the moment, there were more pressing matters. Like which kind of meat bun to get.

  
“Hinata, if you can’t make up your mind, let the next person choose!” complained Yamaguchi, standing behind him in line. He looked out through the glass doors of Sakanoshita Market. “They’re eating already. Just pick one!”

  
“I don’t know what I want! Do I feel like getting pork or beef? And there’s only one curry bun left…”

  
“Really? Oh…”

  
Yamaguchi turned to Yachi. “Do you want the curry one?”

  
“It’s fine! You guys go first.”

  
“Here you go, sweetheart.” Coach Ukai wrapped it in a napkin and held it up for her. “Hinata, if you take any longer to choose, I’ll make you pay for it.”

  
“But I don’t have any money!”

  
“You’ll pay for it in laps around the gym, then.”

  
“Thank you very much, coach!” said Yachi, reaching for the offered meat bun. Hinata heard a sound and looked down. Coach Ukai had just kicked the cashier’s desk swinging door closed. Before Hinata could warn her, Yachi’s hand touched the invisible wall that prevented supernatural creatures from crossing the mountain ash counter. “Ow! What?” she muttered, shaking her hand like she had just burned herself.

  
“I’m really sorry, Yachi,” he said, “I had to check. So you are… something.”

  
“Is there a way to figure out what she is?” asked Daichi, reentering the store.

  
“Not that I know of. I’ll ask.” The coach opened the door again, breaking the magical barrier. “Here, for real this time. The next one is also on me, okay? Yamaguchi, you pick next.”

  
“But I got in line first!”

  
“Hinata, you’re running two laps first thing tomorrow’s practice. Try me again and we’ll see how high I can get that number.”

  
“Yachi,” started Daichi, guiding her outside with the rest of the team, “I think maybe we should restrain you too.”

  
“But I… I’m not…” Yachi’s words just trailed off.

  
“It’s going to be your first full moon. Maybe it’s some kind of delayed response to the bite. I don’t know. But better to be safe than sorry, don’t you think?”

  
“And we’ll keep you company,” added Suga, patting her back. “It’s not that bad, right, guys?”

  
The pack agreed. Tsukishima made a noise that was just non-committal.

  
“I’ll be right there with you,” Kiyoko assured her. Yachi’s pout softened a bit.

  
“Thank you, coach!” Yamaguchi left the store biting into his bun and sat next to Tsukishima on the curb.

  
“Okay, I’m done. It’s closing up time and I still have to clean and do inventory. You don’t need to keep rubbing your two braincells together, Hinata.” Coach Ukai grabbed a pork bun and a beef bun and threw them in a paper bag. “Get out of my sight.”

  
“Thank you so much, coach! You’re the best!”

. . .

The effects of the full moon were already becoming noticeable by the time they got to the gym and started to set up. Hinata was trying his best but, as Daichi had told them, the moon had a way to bring out their cruelest instincts.

  
Hinata had never believed he had a mean bone in his body, but his thoughts were proving him wrong. Tsukishima seemed to be dealing with it the worst again, and Hinata found himself thinking that he deserved it. If he found so much joy in making other people feel bad about themselves, it was only right he should suffer now.

  
No. That’s not what he really thought. He shook his head, the chains clinking together as he tried to sit in a more comfortable position. Nobody deserved the pain they were going through right now. And he wasn’t even sure Tsukishima found joy in picking on him, or in anything at all.

  
“How are you doing, Hinata?”

  
He looked up at Suga and tried to smile. “I’m okay.”

  
Tsukishima threw his head back, smashing it against the wall of the gym. “Can you talk lower? My head feels like it’s going to split open.”

  
“It can’t help to do that, Tsuki,” whispered Yamaguchi next to him. He nudged him with his knee. “Do you want to lie down? You can rest your head on my legs.”

  
“I want to get out of here.”

  
“Guys, I’m sorry, but can you keep it down?” Kiyoko came out of the equipment room. “You’re scaring Yachi, and she’s having a bad enough time as it is.”

  
“Any sign yet?”

  
“No, she’s just… distressed.”

  
“When isn’t she distressed?”

  
“When she isn’t surrounded by werewolves who seem about to snap, for example.”

  
Tsukishima just groaned and took Yamaguchi’s offer. He lay down with his back to Kiyoko and everyone else, and she just sighed and went back to Yachi.

  
“I don’t think she’s a werewolf,” said Tanaka in Hinata’s ear. He had leaned too far out and fell like a sack of potatoes, hitting Hinata’s chains with his face and landing on the floor. Suga went to help him up. “You know what? I’m gonna stay down here for a sec. Anyway, Noya said she isn’t, and I trust him.”

  
“But I saw her crash against the mountain ash,” Hinata muttered, checking for a reaction in Tsukishima. It didn’t seem to bother him. “Ukai is right, she has to be something.”

  
In their silence, they both caught Yachi’s muffled crying through the closed door. Hinata felt good about not having a mean intrusive thought for her, but then Kageyama walked into the gym after his round around campus, and they came back with a vengeance.

  
“Suga?” The senior turned to Hinata with a compassionate look. “When will it get easier?”

  
“For you, I think it will be soon. It’s the angrier people who have a harder time controlling the wolf instinct. Remember how you calmed down that other night with your sister?” Hinata nodded. “That’s an anchor.” He rose his voice slightly, to make sure Tsukishima would hear him too. “You find something or someone to anchor you to your humanity, and you think of it like a mantra. That’s how you keep your control a full moon. But until you master that, the best thing to do is to stay with your pack and let them help you through it.”

  
Hinata almost asked what his anchor was, but he thought he could guess. “I never asked how you became a true alpha.”

  
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard the story either,” said Tanaka, struggling. “Help me sit up again?”

  
Suga did. “There you are, you big, bald baby.”

  
“I’m not bald! I shave my head!”

  
“Goddammit, keep it down!”

  
Yamaguchi’s shoulders moved as if he wanted to reach for Tsukishima, but the restraints wouldn’t budge. “I’m sorry, guys.”

  
“It’s okay,” Suga said in a whisper. “It happened when we were first-years. The volleyball team was already a pack by then, although all our seniors have left for other towns or packs now. We had a beach trip one day, to unwind and play volleyball somewhere different. It was my idea, and Daichi helped me convince our alpha that it would be good for everyone. Daichi and I got a pedal boat and had a picnic out at sea.” His face had lit up, but now darkened. “It was a wonderful day until the weather turned. We tried to make our way back, but the boat capsized and hit Daichi on the shoulder, popped it right out of its socket. I grabbed him and tried to get to shore, but I had to fight the tide and hold on to him, and he could barely help with the swimming. I could almost touch the seafloor when I couldn’t keep my head up any longer and I started to breathe in the ocean.” He shivered. “I woke up on the sand an alpha.”

  
As it usually happened to Hinata after asking about people’s pasts, he didn’t know what to say next. Tanaka, however, was never short for words.

  
“Suga! You are a badass!”

  
“Of course he is.” Daichi was back from his patrol. “All good?” he asked Kageyama, and they started briefing each other.

  
Tsukishima made another pained sound and Suga looked at him like he was debating whether it would make it better or worse to go talk to him. He stayed put. Hinata heard Yamaguchi whispering.

  
“Talk to me. Is this because of your fight with Akiteru?”

  
“I just don’t understand what right he has to be mad at me.”

  
“He wanted to spend time with you on his weekend back home, that’s all.”

  
“I get that! But he kept saying that I was hiding something. As if he had never kept anything important from me!”

  
“Tsuki, you should-“

  
“No,” he said, sitting up by himself, “he’s the one who has to calm down. Accusing me of lying? Me? That’s rich.”

  
“Tsuki?” Yamaguchi looked at Suga pleadingly. “C’mon, think of something else.”

  
Hinata could see Tsukishima was breathing heavily. He heard Suga rising to his feet and turned sharply. His fangs were showing and his eyes shone yellow.

  
“Tsukishima, will you breathe with me?” Suga said calmly.

  
There was a growl coming from Tsukishima’s throat. When the alpha’s hand got to his shoulder, he flinched. Something snapped. Suga opened his mouth, but Tsukishima dropped on his back and kicked him away.

  
He recovered quickly, but not enough. When he grasped at the broken chains, Tsukishima was already shaking them off. He ran. Daichi and Kageyama intercepted him at the door. Kageyama took hold of one arm, but the blond’s hand twisted and he dug his claws in Kageyama’s wrist, forcing him to let go. Daichi kicked his knee and got behind him, grabbing him by the neck. He held him down, but he was outmatched in height and rage, and Tsukishima whipped his head back and smashed it against his captain’s face.

  
Suga got within arm’s reach just as Tsukishima got free. He tried to grab him and failed. Suga jumped with his arms out, to tackle him onto the ground. He caught his ankles and they both hit the wooden floor. Tsukishima was the first to get up. He disappeared through the door.


	2. Running With The Wolves

“Let me go!” Yamaguchi was struggling against his chains. “I can help!”

  
He watched in desperation as Kiyoko shot through the gym after Tsuki. Suga was the next one to recover and go. Daichi was holding Kageyama’s torn wrist in one hand, the other pressing on his nose.

  
“I can help him! I can calm him down!”

  
“It’s too risky,” said Daichi, his voice muffled. He spat blood on the floor and cringed as he tried to set his nose straight. “They’ll get him. I’m calling Noya in for help too.”

  
“Call Asahi,” advised Tanaka. “Noya always silences his phone at night.”

  
“Is everyone okay?” Yachi called from the equipment room. “What’s happening?”

  
Yamaguchi tried to steady himself. He wasn’t feeling angry, he was just worried, but it was driving him insane. He stopped understanding what people were saying around him. There was too much noise, and he needed to get out of there, to find Tsuki before he did something he would regret.

  
He smashed his body against the wall. Daichi turned to him, mid-phonecall. Kageyama’s mouth was moving. With another slam, Yamaguchi finally felt the restraints give way. He got one arm out and pushed the mess of chains to the floor. Kageyama went for him instinctively, but he tried to reach him with his wounded arm and didn’t get too far. Daichi said something, but Yamaguchi was too far gone.

  
Nobody could stop him as he stepped into the night. He wasn’t good at following a scent yet, but he didn’t need to. He knew where Tsuki’s anger was taking him. Yamaguchi ran towards his home as fast as his legs would go.

  
Neither of his seniors were there when he arrived. He walked around the house looking for a sign of Tsuki’s presence. There, still as a statue, looking through the living room window. Yamaguchi hoped that his family couldn’t see him in the darkness as he tried to make his way to him as noiselessly as possible.

  
He was staring at his own reflection. Yellow eyes, lethal fangs, and the monstruous features that werewolves sported when fully transformed. But to Yamaguchi, Tsuki didn’t look monstruous, not ever.

  
"Tsuki?" He turned to Yamaguchi. He wasn’t sure he recognized him. “We have to go back to the gym. C’mon.” He held a hand out, but Tsuki reacted to the movement as if it was a threat.

  
He pushed him towards the wall and turned to run. Yamaguchi felt his breath cut from the force of the blow, but he had been ready. He rested a foot against the wall and jumped, transforming in the air and landing on Tsuki. He tried to pin him down, but Tsuki was putting up a fight, and Yamaguchi felt claws digging into his left side. He bit down a scream and lost his advantage. He rolled away clutching his ribs as Tsuki got up, but then he was back on the ground, face against the earth, Kiyoko holding his arms behind him. She sat on his back, and it seemed like, try as he might, Tsuki would not be getting out of her hold any time soon.

  
“Tsuki, it’s us.” Yamaguchi touched the skin of his side, where it hurt. He was bleeding. “Yamaguchi and Kiyoko.” He probably couldn’t even hear him over his growling.

  
“We should move him,” Kiyoko whispered. “They might hear us and come out.”

  
“If you move, he’ll get away from us again.”

  
“I didn’t mean move him while he’s conscious.”

  
Yamaguchi looked at Kiyoko. She looked as unhappy about it as he was, but he wasn’t going to give up yet.

  
“Kei, it’s me,” he whispered, lying on the ground next to him. He caressed his face and Tsuki tried to bite his hand. “It’s Tadashi. If you don’t calm down, she’ll have to hurt you. Please, Kei.” He tried to touch his cheek again, and this time he didn’t attack. “I know you’re upset with your brother, but you don’t want to hurt him. It’s just the moon.” His breathing was slowing down. He groaned as his face returned to human. Yamaguchi tried to sit up, but a cry of pain escaped him without his permission.

  
“Did you hear that?” Tsuki’s brother asked from the house.

  
“It’s probably just a stray cat.” Their mom.

  
Kiyoko lowered a shoulder for Yamaguchi to support himself on and raise. “We need to go.”

  
“Tsuki?”

  
“Yes.” His voice was hoarse, but his eyes were not lit up anymore.

  
Kiyoko let go of his wrists first and, when he didn’t move, released him. She helped them both back up. Noya and Suga were walking towards them, and the alpha’s eyes were immediately drawn to Yamaguchi’s wound. He put an arm around his back to crutch him and made casual contact with his skin. Yamaguchi could feel the pain leaving his side. The other two flanked Tsuki as they walked away from his home.

  
“Where are your glasses?” Yamaguchi asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

  
Tsuki touched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know. I must have dropped them.”

  
“Do you feel okay?” asked Suga. At his nod, he turned to Noya. “Can you go look for them?”

  
“You got it, boss!” The libero smiled, and Yamaguchi finally felt a little normal.

  
As Noya left, he took Tsuki’s hand in his. He stiffened at first, but then gripped it like his life depended on it.

  
“Is everyone okay?” Daichi asked as soon as they appeared on the doorway. “Where’s Nishinoya?”

  
“Tsukishima dropped his glasses, so he went to find them,” answered Suga.

  
“Is anybody else hurt?” Asahi had been cleaning blood off the floor, but he put aside the mop when Suga nodded, and jogged to his bag. Yamaguchi lay down on his good side while Asahi took a medicinal compress and got to work on the wound. “How’s the pain?”

  
“It’s fine,” he said, trying to keep with a wince from his face.

  
“I’m almost done.” He set the wet gauze on the floor and took out some clean bandages. The compress smelled herbal, with a hint of blood. “Coach Ukai told me that this batch of compresses had turned out really good, so it should help accelerate your healing.”

  
“Thank you.” Tsuki had been escorted out by Kiyoko and Daichi to wash his hands. Yamaguchi asked, “how is the druid training going?”

  
“I think it’s going well. I like it. It’s like when I was a kid and used to play potions in the kitchen, but it’s real now.” He finished securing the bandaging with tape. “All good now.”

  
“Yamaguchi! What happened?”

  
Hinata, Tanaka and Yachi looked at him expectantly, and Asahi helped him walk over to them. “We found him outside his home and brought him back.”

  
“Are you okay?”

  
He followed Yachi’s eyes to the dried blood on his t-shirt. “Yes. I think whatever Asahi gave me is making the pain go away.” Asahi nodded with a small smile, proud of himself.

  
Noya walked into the gym. “Got ‘em! Where’s Tsukishima?”

  
“Here,” he said flatly, reappearing at the door. “Thank you.”

  
Kiyoko made her way back to Yachi. Daichi kept his eyes on Tsuki’s back while he talked, not willing to get caught by surprise again. “Yamaguchi, how are you feeling?”

  
“I’m fine.” He looked at Tsuki but he would not meet his eyes. “It doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

  
“Good. You seem to have exceptional control, so I will not restrain you again. Especially because I don’t have anything to restrain you with. But if you feel yourself slip, tell us, alright?” He turned to Suga. “Come help me?”

  
“Tsuki?”

  
The blond didn’t stop walking. “I’m sorry. See you tomorrow.”

  
“What?”

  
“Yamaguchi, stay out here,” said Daichi as he, Tsuki and Suga entered the equipment room.

  
“Well, if everyone’s okay, I’m gonna crash. Good night, everyone!” Tanaka dropped with a clang and closed his eyes.

  
Noya turned to Kiyoko. “He’s been good lately. Couldn’t we try to let him free during a full moon again?”

  
“I’ll talk to Daichi.”

  
“Was everything okay in here?” asked Yamaguchi.

  
“Yeah, look!” Hinata slid down the wall and rolled in front of Yachi. “We learned to do clapping games with our feet!”

  
They demonstrated. It was pretty impressive.

  
Kageyama came back, presumably from another round of patrolling. His wrist was bandaged, his arm on a sling. “Hi. I saw you coming back.”

  
“You’re not going to ask if he’s okay?” Hinata sat back up.

  
“He seems okay.”

  
“You should still ask! You need to learn how to talk to people!”

  
Yamaguchi tuned out their argument. He had a lot of practice doing that by now. He focused on listening to what was happening at the other side of that closed door, but it opened soon enough.

  
“Can I talk to him?”

  
Daichi hesitated, but Suga gave him a look. “Call out if you need help.”

  
He nodded and let them walk past. He closed the door behind him. Tsuki looked up and away. “Leave.”

  
“No.”

  
“Please, get out.”

  
Tsuki’s arms and torso were bound in chains again, more than before, and now there were also links securing him to the metal fixings on the wall. “No.” Yamaguchi sat before him.

  
Tsuki broke down. “I hurt you.”

  
“It wasn’t you.”

  
He hugged him and Tsuki hid his face in the crook of his neck. “I had your blood on my hands. I’m so sorry, Tadashi.”

  
“You don’t need to apologize, Kei.”

  
Yamaguchi couldn’t hold his tears anymore either. Tsuki lifted his face, pushed Yamaguchi’s chin down with his own, found his lips. “I’m sorry,” he repeated after each kiss. “Please, go outside with the others. I don’t want to hurt you again.”

  
“Don’t, then. I’m staying.”

  
Yamaguchi sat next to him. He wiped his tears away for him until he stopped crying, and then he rested his head on his shoulder. Tsuki rested his on Yamaguchi’s, and they drifted off to sleep.

  
. . .

  
“Daichi! Have you seen this?”

  
Daichi looked away from the window and found Yui, who was showing him her phone screen. “Have I seen what?”

  
“People have been passing this video around all morning,” she said, pressing play. It was dark, but Daichi could see a familiar Sendai street. And then, running past in a blur, a boy with gleaming yellow eyes. To the untrained eye, he was probably unrecognizable, but Daichi knew him. It was Yamaguchi. “Apparently this girl from class 3-4 was recording a time-lapse and found this in the footage. But most people think it’s just a prank.”

  
“I mean…” He hoped his shock didn’t show on his face. “It looks fake to me.”

  
“Yeah, me too. But it seems like some people believe that there’s something more going on.” Her screen now showed a poster that invited anyone from Sendai to send their urban legends and proof of the supernatural to the given email address and phone number. “I know several people who have already sent tips here. They think they’re going to do a documentary or something. Isn’t that cool?”

  
Daichi just nodded, rereading the poster over and over. It was probably nothing, he told himself.

  
Later, when he briefed the rest of the pack before practice, Yamaguchi got so upset that he nearly threw up, and Tsukishima even apologized to them. Ukai advised them to just ignore it and wait for the buzz to die down. Two days later, nobody was talking about it anymore. They seemed to have dodged the bullet.


	3. I Have A Bad Feeling About This

June came, and the Interhigh with it. And the bitter disappointment of their new loss against Aoba Johsai. Yachi told them before the match that she had woken up with a bad feeling, and she had turned out to be right.

  
The Karasuno team had a tearful lunch together and, by evening’s time, they had regrouped in the gym and were training with renewed determination. Third time’s the charm. Hinata promised himself he wouldn't let the next match end the same way.

  
“Very good practice, everyone,” started their coach. “And that was an incredible game this morning. It was a very close call. You should be proud of how you played. And we have the Tokyo training camp in a couple of weeks, so let’s all work really hard and up our game. And then you’ll be ready to crush Aoba Johsai in the Spring Interhigh qualifiers and get yourselves to Nationals!” Daichi yelled his agreement, and the rest of the team followed, cheering for themselves. “It’s been a long day, so if anyone wants to skip the extra practice, you’re free to go rest.”

  
Daichi, Suga, Tanaka and Kageyama stayed to train Tsukishima, Yamaguchi and Hinata. After working on their control, the latter two started training their werewolf sense of smell, taking turns to find Tanaka’s t-shirt, hidden somewhere in the gym. Asahi stayed with Coach Ukai for his druid class, and Noya was learning how to mask his scent with Mr. Takeda. Kiyoko and Yachi finished tidying up from the volleyball practice and the first went to join the teacher and the libero, while the latter went to sit with Asahi and the coach. Unluckily for her, neither of them had supernatural reflexes, so when she wobbled on her feet, no one caught her before she fell.

  
“Are you okay?”

  
“Yes,” she answered, looking dizzy, “I mean- I think. I haven’t been feeling good today.”

  
“Is it your head? Stomach?”

  
“I don’t know. It’s not- I can’t explain it. I don’t feel sick, I feel… bad.”

  
Mr. Takeda walked over to them. “You take the bus home, right? Do you want me to drive you?”

  
“You should eat something,” suggested Hinata. “Do you want me to get you anything from the vending machines? Kageyama, give me some money.”

  
“I’ll just get it myself, then!” He scoffed at Hinata before turning to Yachi. “What do you want? The milk is really good.”

  
“Who drinks just straight milk?”

  
“Plenty of people, moron!”

  
“Yeah? Name two.”

  
“It’s okay!” she exclaimed. “I think I just slept poorly today. I’m tired, that’s it.”

  
She gasped. Nobody spoke as she stared into nothing, just looked at each other in confusion. Coach Ukai waved a hand before her face. “Hey, Yachi?”

  
She screamed.

  
Hinata jumped in surprise and covered his ears. Many of them did the same thing, but Daichi ran to her and grabbed her shoulders. Her shriek lasted several seconds, and she didn’t react at all to Daichi shaking her. Finally, there was silence. She slumped forward, landing on Daichi’s chest, who was now looking dizzy himself. One of his ears was dripping blood.

  
Coach Ukai and Mr. Takeda exchanged a worried glance. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  
“But that is so rare,” muttered the teacher. “It’s almost unheard of.”

  
“What it is, is bad news.”

  
Yachi was coming back to herself. “Come here,” said Kiyoko, taking her from Daichi and patting her head comfortingly. “Do you feel better now?”

  
“Yes… What happened? Did I scream?”

  
A phone rang once. “That’s a text form Ushijima.” Daichi walked unsteadily to his bag.

  
“Sweetheart, did this bad feeling have anything to do with death?”

  
Her eyes widened. “Yes! I don’t know how to explain it. I’ve been feeling this… dread, like someone is going to die? What does it mean?”

  
“I think I know what you are, Yachi.” Coach Ukai looked like it was painful for him to say it. “You are a banshee. And I’m afraid that what just happened was you announcing the death of somebody here.”

  
“Guys,” Daichi called out, looking at his screen, “Ushijima has called an emergency meeting in an hour. There are hunters in Miyagi.”

  
. . .

  
The Karasuno pack arrived at the Sendai City Gymnasium for the second time that day. Three guys from Shiratorizawa were standing guard at the main entrance.

  
“You are the last ones,” said one without taking his eyes off his phonescreen.

  
“Really?” asked Daichi. “Of all of Miyagi?”

  
“Of the packs that confirmed their attendance.” He finished typing and looked up. “Most of them are going to be on Skype call. Sawamura, right?” They shook hands. “I’m Reon. I assume you read the texts, but I’ll recap. You can take a plus one to the meeting. Second floor, Conference Room B. All attending packs must contribute to the security detail. Four of you are coming with me to the roof, the rest can wait inside. Questions?”

  
There were none, so they went in. Kiyoko, Tanaka, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi left with Reon. Daichi and Suga took a different stairwell for their destination. Noya put his hands on his hips. “I’m the leader by default now! Follow me, kids!”

  
From the outside, it had seemed empty, but Hinata could see now that the main hall was packed with werewolves. They walked around looking for a place to wait and ended up sitting under a funny golden moon sculpture.

  
“Look, look,” Hinata whispered to Yachi, trying to imitate the face on the piece of décor.

  
She laughed, and Kageyama shook his head. “No, it’s more like this,” he scrunched his face up, making both of them laugh. For a split second, it seemed like he was going to get mad about them laughing, but then he cracked up too. Hinata thought that it was the first time he had heard him laugh. Maybe even seen him smile at all.

  
Yachi gave it a try but, in the end, the best imitator turned out to be Asahi. “You are so talented!” Noya kept complimenting him while he blushed furiously.

  
“Keishin?” The coach turned around to find an old man with very thick eyebrows. “I thought that was you. Picked up the family business, did you?”

  
“Kind of, yes. Nice to see you, Washijo.” He pointed at them. “This is part of the Karasuno pack. Kids, this is the coach and druid for the Shiratorizawa.”

  
“Come with me. We the druids are having a meeting of our own. Some old faces, some new ones. There’s people who would like to see you.”

  
“Of course.” He got up and turned to Asahi. “I’m sort of training him. Not that I’m in a position to teach anybody, but…”

  
“The more the merrier.”

  
“Well, then,” Coach Ukai looked apologetically at Mr. Takeda, “sorry to leave you alone with the children.”

  
“I think I’ll manage.”

  
“Mr. Takeda,” asked Hinata after the coach and the senior left, “can we still go to Tokyo with this whole hunters thing?”

  
He pondered it. “I’m not sure. Ten years ago, we took it very seriously. We treated it as a sort of siege. If this is handled like it was back then, it’s going to be Ushijima’s call, most likely.”

  
“Oh.” Hinata took his phone to tell Kenma that they might not make it. “Hey, can I walk around for a bit?”

  
“I’m getting a little antsy myself,” agreed Noya, jumping to his feet. “We’ll be back! Don’t go anywhere!”

  
The sports hall they had played in just hours ago looked very different now. The nets were put away, and the floor was covered in other groups of people waiting around like them. Noya and Hinata greeted some who recognized them, like the white-haired giant from Date Tech who smiled and waved to Hinata despite having lost to Karasuno just the day before.

  
When they were making their way back to the funny moon, Noya whispered to him, “hey, there’s this guy following us. Do you know him? Middle part with the lost look on his face.”

  
Hinata turned, making Noya scoff at his lack of subtlety. “I think he was on Kageyama’s middle school volleyball team.”

  
“Is he looking for him? Should we stop him?”

  
“Hey!” Hinata waved at the kid. Noya cursed under his breath. “Are you looking for Kageyama?”

  
He brought a finger to his lips, startled, and turned around to check nobody was looking at them. “I’m not supposed to. I just want to talk to him.”

  
“You better not be looking for trouble!” Noya said, trying to look threatening. The guy didn't seem very impressed.

  
“I’m not, I promise.”

  
They led him to the rest of Karasuno. Hinata saw Kageyama sit up straight when he saw his ex-teammate behind them. “Kunimi?”

  
“Hello, Kageyama.” Neither one seemed sure of how to proceed. “I just wanted to see if you were doing okay.”

  
“I am. You?”

  
“Yeah. Um. I’m sorry about what went down.”

  
“I know what you heard, but I never intended for Kindaichi to… you know.”

  
“I do. I… I’m glad you’re okay. I should get back before they come looking for me.”

  
Kageyama nodded. “Is the rest of Aoba Johsai here?”

  
“Yeah, Oikawa was the one who called Ushijima. One of ours was attacked.”

  
“What? Who?”

  
“You never met him. They call him Mad Dog.”


	4. Everybody Talks

Chatter stopped when Ushijima stood up. “Thank you for coming on such short notice. As you know, hunters have been spotted in Miyagi. Kyotani Kentaro, of the Aoba Johsai pack, was attacked earlier this evening. Oikawa Tooru, you may relate what happened.”

  
“Thank you, Ushijima,” Suga frowned as he gave the Shiratorizawa leader the same fake grin he had used with Daichi, “as kind as always.”

  
“Does he hate everybody?” whispered Daichi in his ear.

  
Suga covered his mouth to hide his smile. “Just what I was thinking.”

  
“Makes sense. I have exactly one braincell, and it’s you.”

  
The setter scratched the captain’s back. His face didn’t show it, but he was nervous to be there. They had spent three years actively avoiding interacting with the other packs, and this was not only the first big meeting Daichi was attending as the Karasuno leader, but also one that he felt personally responsible for.

  
“Kentaro was getting home from volleyball practice when the hunters tried to kidnap him,” said Oikawa, not looking smug for once. “He was badly hurt, but he is recovering well. He only managed to escape them because they wanted him alive. To gather intel on the prefecture’s packs, I assume. He heard them refer to him as an omega, so that’s why they went for him, because they thought he wouldn’t be missed. Our dear Ushijima hasn’t been doing a good job of keeping hunters away, so we all need to unite against this new enemy,” he shot a sly look at Ushijima, “under his leadership… or not.”

  
“Thank you for sharing.” Ushijima looked and sounded completely unbothered. Suga watched with satisfaction as Oikawa clenched his jaw and went back to his seat, next to Iwaizumi, who elbowed him on the ribs when he sat down. Tendou laughed out loud, earning himself a stern look from his alpha.

  
“How did they get into Miyagi without you noticing?” asked a man whom Suga didn’t recognize. His tone was openly defiant.

  
“I do not have an answer. We upped our security these past few weeks, but these hunters seem to be very good at what they do.”

  
“We’ve had peace for years. Why did they come back all of a sudden?” This voice came from the speakers that flanked the huge screen displaying tiny windows with all of the alphas who couldn’t be there in person.

  
“I bet it has to do with that video that was going around like a month ago.”

  
“And I bet it has something to do with Karasuno.” Oikawa’s poisonous smile was directed at Daichi again. “As I understand, that’s where the video started circulating, isn’t it? And I know for a fact that poor Sawamura here has some problematic elements in his pack. Was it Kageyama on that video, or another one of your many new kids?”

  
“I’m pretty sure you would’ve recognized Kageyama if it had been him,” Daichi said through his teeth. “He was your beta first, after all.”

  
“Oh, you’re right, it couldn’t have been him!” He faked a revelation. “Because our little Tobio’s eyes aren’t yellow anymore, are they? Because after I kicked him out of mine, you decided to let a murderer into your pack.”

  
“You better shut up-“ started Suga before getting shut down by Ushijima.

  
“Oikawa, that has nothing to do with the matter at hand. Sugawara, you were informed that your attendance to this meeting was silent.”

  
Suga took a deep breath. “I apologize.”

  
“Sawamura, seriously,” Oikawa said in a theatrical whisper, “get a hold of your bitch.”

  
“Oikawa,” Ushijima warned, “another intervention that is irrelevant to the issue and you will be escorted out.” When he was sure that both parties were not about to jump at each other’s throats, he continued. “I was made aware of this video by Sawamura himself. It is indeed one of his new betas, and it was taken on the last full moon.”

  
“So it is Karasuno’s fault, then,” said the first man, “like Oikawa said.”

  
People started to whisper, and Ushijima cleared his throat, bringing the silence back. “I am fairly sure that everyone here has caused an incident on a full moon or knows someone who has. This is not anybody’s fault, but an accident. Sawamura also informed me of a campaign started shortly after it happened, in which people were encouraged to send other proof of supernatural happenings in the area. Our investigation did not lead us to anything suspicious, but we are looking into it again.”

  
“I agree that the Karasuno pack is not to blame of this,” said another stranger, “but what is the plan now?”

  
“We have to find them and attack as soon as possible. Can’t risk them killing omegas or our own people.”

  
“We are already working on finding them,” said Ushijima, “so the plan for now is to keep a close eye on your packs. If you know omegas, protect them too. This is going to be a community effort, and I will call another meeting when I have more information.” He waited a couple of seconds. “That is all on my end. I will be taking questions now.”

  
. . .

  
Hinata had been watching volleyball videos on his phone with Yachi and Kageyama when the packs started reuniting and leaving the Gymnasium. Ukai and Asahi had also joined them again, so all they had left to do was wait for their alphas and their friends on the roof.

  
The hall was already pretty deserted when the Aoba Johsai made their way out. Kageyama held Oikawa’s stare as he walked by.

  
Just as they had been the last to arrive, the Karasuno alphas were also the last to exit. They were walking with the Shiratorizawa.

  
“I’ve always liked you, Sawamura.”

  
“Really? The first time we met you called me ugly.”

  
“What did he do?”

  
Tendou turned to Ushijima with an offended look on his face. “I did no such thing!”

  
“You said I looked better in pictures.”

  
“I meant that as a compliment!” Tendou looked for confirmation in his alpha. “Telling somebody that they are photogenic is a compliment.”

  
Ushijima thought about it. “Yes, it is.”

  
“Not when you say it like that!” a grey-haired guy that Hinata remembered from the basement of the music store exclaimed. “I swear I can’t leave you alone for two minutes.”

  
“Oh, Semi-Semi, don’t be like that!”

  
“Don’t call me that!”

  
Hinata had been watching Yachi as she sneaked behind people’s backs, trying to get behind Tendou unseen. She seemed to have managed it, but as soon as she went to tap his back, the redhead turned around.

  
“Boo-agh!”

  
Tendou laughed and patted her head. “That was a valiant effort, blondie. What does that make us, four to none?”

  
“I’ll get you,” she said, running back to her pack. “You’ll see!”

  
“Can’t wait!”

  
“Hey!” Noya walked up to him. “That day, in our school, you caught me by surprise! I didn’t even smell you! How do you do it?”

  
“I shower. You should try it sometime.”

  
Semi slapped him on the arm. “Wasn’t I just talking about how you can’t talk to people that way?”

  
“It was a joke!”

  
“Seriously!” Noya kept insisting. “Can you teach me?”

  
Hinata lost sight of them as the packs merged together at the door. Daichi was behind, shaking hands with Ushijima. “I still feel responsible for all of this, so let me know how we can help.”

  
“Of course. Take care.”

  
“You too.”

  
The four missing Karasuno werewolves came back with Reon, and the two packs went their own ways. Suga took out a notebook with their plan to get home. The code word was ‘Sakanoshita’. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi would be walking home together, as they lived near each other, and would text Suga the word through a private chat to let him know that they got there safely. If they didn’t, or they texted anything else or sent it to the group chat, it meant that something was wrong. Since Noya and Asahi were planning on having a sleepover at the latter’s house, they would also be going on their own and sending the text. Mr. Takeda would drive Hinata and Yachi to their homes, as they were the ones who lived the farthest away. Coach Ukai would be going with them, and once everyone was safely delivered, the teacher was to contact Suga. Him and Daichi would escort Kiyoko, Tanaka and Kageyama to their homes, since they were sort of on their way, before going together to Daichi’s place. Suga had a different code word that he would be responding with to everyone’s texts.

  
With an unshakeable feeling of unease, they parted. The ones who were leaving by car were the last to do so, as they had some trouble fitting Hinata’s bike into the trunk, but they finally managed it. Hinata looked through the window the whole way, waiting for a sign of danger, but Sendai looked as peaceful as always.


	5. This Is What Nightmares Are Made Of

“How are you not scared?” asked Asahi, who hadn’t stopped whipping his head back and forth, imagining hunters jumping out from the shadows to get them. “I’m terrified.”

  
“They won’t surprise us.” Noya smiled confidently. “My hearing is too good!”

  
“Okay…” Noya watched Asahi try to put on a brave face, but even without his werewolf senses he could have felt that it was a front. “I’ll shut up.”

  
“Don’t! With your beautiful voice you should never shut up!”

  
“Good. I think the silence scares me more anyway-“

  
“Shh.” Noya stopped and kneeled down, pretending to tie his laces. He closed his eyes. His head turned slowly, like an antenna trying to find the signal. There.

  
He had been walking with the suspicion that they were being followed for a while now, but he hadn’t wanted to freak Asahi out even more. But there had just been a sound that made him think of action movies. Of the safety of a gun clicking off.

  
“You’re sure, right?”

  
“Yeah. I peeped shorty over there talking to Ushijima’s right hand man.”

  
“Don’t panic,” muttered Noya, taking Asahi’s hand. “Let’s just walk. When we turn that corner, we run, okay?” Asahi couldn’t speak, so he just nodded.

  
“Now, just like we practiced.”

  
“I don’t want to do this. I can’t.”

  
“Of course you can. You were born for this. They’re not really people, kid. I don’t want to deal with that beast if you miss and he turns, so take the big one down first.”

  
“Scratch that,” Noya said, “run now!”

  
A muffled sound, a gun with a silencer going off. Noya pulled on Asahi’s hand and they both hit the ground. He could smell blood.

  
“Asahi!” His neck was bleeding, but it seemed like the bullet had barely touched his skin. “Come on!”

  
Noya got up with him and tried to run, but he heard another gunshot, and they dropped again.

  
“Stay low!”

  
The bullet had hit the pavement they were about to crawl over, so Noya went to grab it. It was blazing hot. He shook his hand, wrapped it with the fabric of his t-shirt, and pushed it into a pocket in his bag.

  
They finally cleared the corner. With a grunt, Noya lifted Asahi in his arms and he didn’t stop running until they got to his house. The senior unlocked the door with shaky hands.

  
“Get in!”

  
“What if they’re still out there?”

  
“Did you hear them follow us?”

  
“No, but I should go look-“

  
“Are you crazy? Yuu, get in here right now.”

  
Asahi locked the door back up, let himself drop to the floor and looked at the blood on his hands. “I was shot.”

  
“And you don't heal.” Noya ran towards the bathroom. “Don’t move!”

  
When he got back, first aid kit in hand, Asahi wasn’t there. He heard him hiss and followed the noise to his bedroom. He was sitting before his mirror, cleaning his own wound with stuff from his druid bag.

  
“Are you okay?”

  
“It stings, but it's nothing.”

  
Noya started crying. He knelt behind Asahi and threw his arms around his waist, burying his face on his back. He slipped a hand under his shirt, but he was right. There was barely any pain to take away. “I’m sorry. I should have reacted sooner. You got shot because of me.”

  
“I got shot because they thought I was a werewolf.” His muscle memory was about to make him say that he could, and should, become one, but it was not the time for a fight, so Noya said nothing. “You are not hurt, are you?”

  
Noya shook his head no, rubbing his tears all over Asahi’s shirt. “How are you not freaking out right now? You were just shot. With a gun. You were scared right before getting shot and now you’re chill?”

  
“I wasn’t scared for me, Yuu.”

  
Noya just hugged him tighter. “You’re gonna have to wear a scarf to hide that. In June.”

  
“I’ll just say that it’s a fashion choice.”

  
“People are gonna think I gave you a hickey.”

  
“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Asahi laughed and Noya couldn’t help but to laugh with him. “Done. Come here.”

  
Noya climbed around him like a koala around a tree trunk and rested his face on his chest. Asahi got up like he weighed nothing and then they were lying on his bed, holding each other.

  
. . .

  
When Yachi opened her eyes, she was in the middle of a forest. It didn’t feel like a dream, but it had to be. The world was illuminated by the waxing moon in the sky where it showed between the tree tops. Everything else was pitch black.

  
She was barefoot, but she was clutching her phone. The feeling at the pit of her stomach was eerily familiar. She unlocked her phone and the light blinded her. When she opened her eyes back up, she was still there. It didn't feel like a dream. Which made it so much worse.

  
A quick look around with the flashlight gave her nothing. Just trees. She felt herself about to hyperventilate, so she sat down, rubbing at her bare calves. It wasn’t cold out, but she was shivering all the same. She tried making a phonecall. It was picked up at the first tone.

  
“What’s wrong?”

  
“Kiyoko?” As soon as she spoke, her voice wobbled and the tears came. “I don’t know where I am.”

  
“What do you mean? What do you see?”

  
“I’m in a forest, I think.”

  
“You don’t remember how you got there?” Kiyoko’s voice was steady and kind as always. Yachi had never felt as thankful for their friendship as she was right now. She wished she could ever be half as cool as her.

  
“I think I sleepwalked. I don’t have any shoes.”

  
“I’ll tell you what. You’re going to hang up and try to send me your location. Can you do that for me?”

  
“Yes. I’ll call you back.” Yachi hang up and tried to slow down her breathing. Google Maps showed her in the middle of the forest, west of the city. How did she manage to walk all of that way without waking up?

  
Kiyoko called her before she could. “I sent it to Daichi too. I’m on the way. Are you hurt?”

  
“No, but… I feel weird. I think I came here because of the banshee thing.”

  
“Don’t move. We’ll find you.”

  
“I think I have to,” said Yachi, getting back on her feet. The forest floor crunched under her steps. “I think I need to find something.”

  
“Yachi, it’s really dangerous. Hunters could be out there.” Her breathing got heavier, like she was running. “Just stay put and we will look around together.”

  
The feeling in her stomach was turning into a buzzing in her head, just like in the gym. She kept walking.

  
“Yachi? Yachi, can you hear me?”

  
She found a clearing. Her feet stepped on something wet. The hand that held her phone had dropped to her side, and under the dim moonlight and the brightness of the screen, she could see that the liquid was red. She looked behind her.

  
Two figures were pinned to the trees that flanked the way she had come from. Their heads hang down. They weren’t breathing. They had been nailed to the trunks by stakes run through their torsos. The one closest to her had his claws out, and a piece of paper had been left there, pierced by the nails. Yachi could read it from where she stood. ‘ALL ABOMINATIONS SHALL BE ERRADICATED’.

  
Yachi screamed until the buzzing in her head stopped.


	6. Bad News, Everyone

By the time Suga and Daichi arrived to the scene, Kiyoko was already there. Yachi had a jacket on that Suga recognized as the older girl’s, and she was on the process of putting on a pair of boots that he was fairly sure were also Kiyoko’s. She really had just sleepwalked around Sendai and hiked through the forest, then. They would need to come up with a way of keeping an eye on her at night.

  
“Is she hurt?”

  
“No,” Kiyoko said before nodding towards the dead bodies. “They left a message.”

  
“No shit,” muttered Daichi, taking the piece of paper. “Can today just end, please?”

  
Suga looked over his shoulder to read it. “Technically, it’s already tomorrow.”

  
“So we’re just getting two awful days, back-to-back?”

  
“And counting.”

  
“Hello,” Ushijima’s voice called from behind them.

  
“Wakatoshi! I told you to let me sneak up on her!”

  
“Tendou, you see how this is not the time for that, right?”

  
“Maybe it would have lightened the mood!”

  
“Please, not now.” Ushijima sounded tired. “How did she find them?”

  
Daichi cleared his throat. “I wanted to tell you after the meeting, but I was distracted. She isn’t a werewolf after all. She’s a banshee.”

  
“Shut up!” Tendou didn’t seem affected by the presence of the two dead bodies at all. To Suga, he sounded like he always had. But he hadn’t seen him look at them, either. Maybe he hadn’t noticed, or maybe he was actively avoiding seeing them. Suga couldn’t blame him, as he was doing that himself. It was too easy to picture different bodies in their place. “Blondie, that’s so original!”

  
“You can be a banshee then,” she said with a sniffle. “I don’t like it.”

  
Ushijima, on the other hand, was looking closely at the dead werewolves. At their faces, more precisely. “I know them. These are Shiratorizawa alumni. They had come tonight to help with the meeting. They must have caught them on their way home.”

  
“That could have been Noya and Asahi,” said Daichi, voicing Suga’s fear. “Two of ours were attacked earlier tonight too.”

  
“What?” Yachi was so shocked that she stopped crying. “Are they okay?”

  
“Asahi got grazed by a bullet, but nothing major. They managed to run away from the hunters.”

  
“I am glad to hear that,” said Ushijima. “They left them here on purpose. This used to be a reunion spot for the Sendai packs. This means they have at least one veteran hunter with them. From before they were ran out of Miyagi.”

  
“They want us to know that they are here, and that they won’t stop until they wipe us out,” Daichi handed him the message. “This is just the start.”

  
“Here,” said Tendou, opening his backpack, “you need sugar.”

  
He handed Yachi a paper bag filled with pastries. Ushijima raised an eyebrow. “Did you take those from the cafeteria?”

  
“Allegedly.”

  
“So when you told me that you had to go back to our room ‘real quick’ because you had forgotten something important, you actually broke into the school’s cafeteria and stole food.”

  
“You can’t prove it!”

  
“The stolen food is right there.”

  
“What stolen food?” asked Yachi, biting into a croissant.

  
“Blondie! Getting rid of evidence of a crime? I knew you were cool!” Tendou held his hand up.

  
Yachi swallowed and high-fived him. And then she gasped.

  
“Cover your ears!”

  
Everyone followed Daichi’s advice in time. Yachi let out another scream. For once, Tendou was at a loss for words.

  
“Does that mean that he is going to die?” Ushijima asked Yachi once she recovered.

  
“I don’t know how this works. Nobody who was in the gym when I screamed for the first time has died, and then it happened again here, but they were already dead. I don’t understand it.”

  
“Well, blondie, you did it,” Tendou was smiling again. “We’re four to one now.”

  
. . .

  
The night hadn’t been that peaceful after all, Hinata found out the next day when the pack met in the gym. “So Ushijima was with you last night and still managed to win the Interhigh today? He’s so cool!”

  
“I’m just glad Aoba Johsai lost,” said Suga, earning a surprised but delighted look from Daichi.

  
“Sugawara, are you feeling okay?” asked Tanaka, touching his forehead as if getting his temperature. “You’re being petty?”

  
“I love karma,” was all the setter said.

  
“Guys, I have something.” Noya pulled a bullet out of his bag and showed it off. It rolled in the cup of his hand and spilled a dark powder, making him hiss and drop it. “What the…”

  
“It has mountain ash in it?”

  
Coach Ukai picked it up. “Apparently so. Takeda, will you look at this?”

  
The teacher did. Hinata peeked at it. There was a brand on the pellet, an X made out of an arrow and a rose. “That’s their symbol. Of the family of hunters that murdered my pack. But they didn’t use mountain ash bullets back then.”

  
“They must have some new blood with sadistic ideas,” muttered the coach, turning the bullet in his fingers. “Even if the bullet didn’t hit anything too important, a supernatural creature wouldn’t be able to heal until it was extracted. This makes them a whole new level of dangerous.”

  
Hinata shivered. There were some wary looks exchanged, but nobody had anything encouraging to say, so they didn’t speak at all.

  
“I want to become a werewolf.”

  
Everyone turned to Asahi, no one looking more shocked than Noya.

  
“Are you sure?” asked Daichi. “Now?”

  
“They think I am one anyway. I might as well be one and be of help. I’m the only one on the team who isn’t anything. I’m tired of being a burden.”

  
“No,” said Noya.

  
“Excuse me?”

  
“Nobody’s turning you into a werewolf.”

  
Asahi put his hands up, brought them back down. He looked about to short-circuit. “You’re the one always insisting that I do it!”

  
“But you don’t want to. You want to stay human.”

  
“I don’t!”

  
“Yes, you do. You only say you want to do this now because you’re scared.”

  
“I want to do it for you!”

  
“I want you to do it for yourself, and you have never wanted to be a werewolf before, so you’re not doing it now! Besides, you are of help. You are learning how to be a druid! That’s more than enough!”

  
Kageyama had been sitting next to Asahi, and Hinata watched, a little disgusted, as he sniffed him. “I don’t think you would survive the bite. Mr. Takeda, what do you think?”

  
“Um. I didn’t get a good enough sense of it that night, since he climbed a tree before I could really get a clear read,” said the teacher. “This feels inappropriate now.”

  
“No, do it!” Noya exclaimed. “That way we can squash this argument forever.”

  
Mr. Takeda apologized. His face scrunched up into wolfish features, and he smelled Asahi while he looked absolutely mortified. The teacher looked normal again. “No, you can’t survive the bite.”

  
“Ha! I finally win!” Noya crossed the distance between them and kissed Asahi on the forehead. “And I won’t bother you again. Aren’t you happy?”

  
The ace sat him down next to him, taking his hand into his. “It’s hard to be happy right now.”

  
“Really? I’m feeling pretty peppy myself!”

  
“You’re always happy.”

  
“That’s why you love me!”

  
“Okay, kids,” interrupted Coach Ukai with a clap. “I’m officially cancelling volleyball practice today. I’ve spoken with Kiyoko about this, and today you are having a self-defense class. It’s unlikely that you’ll have a close encounter with the hunters, but you never know. Pair up!”

  
“Wait, who is giving this class?” asked Noya, pulling Asahi up with him.

  
“Me,” answered Kiyoko.

  
His and Tanaka’s eyes met. “Kiyoko, you are so talented!”

  
She just smiled, and they squealed before both getting cuffed in the head by Daichi.

  
“Alright, the floor is yours.”

  
Kiyoko took his place as Coach Ukai went to sit on a bench, followed by Mr. Takeda. “Nishinoya, you can’t pair up with Asahi.”

  
“What?”

  
“You might hurt him. Asahi, you’re with Yachi.”

  
“What?” Yachi looked about to pass out.

  
“He doesn’t look it, but he’s the weakest person on the team.”

  
“Kiyoko… You don’t need to say it that way…”

  
“He’s going to crush me like a soda can!”

  
“I won’t! I think. Oh, no. Kiyoko, are you su-“

  
“Yes. Besides, you’re wounded today. You should be the one scared of Yachi.”

  
“Oh, I am.”

  
“I need a volunteer to show the-“

  
“Me! Me!” Tanaka ran to stand before her. “Pick me!”

  
Kiyoko sighed. “Fine.”

  
Hinata paired up with Kageyama without thinking. He regretted it immediately. He already got enough abuse in the anger management training sessions, and now he willingly got with him for a fighting lesson? Maybe he really was a moron.


	7. Tall Friends In High Places

Asahi slept soundly, but Noya couldn’t. More carefully than he had ever done anything in his life, he slid out of his arms and got up. He hadn’t gotten any sleep last night, and it seemed like this one would be no different.

  
Noya walked to the kitchen and opened the window. He climbed easily up the pipes fixed to the outer wall, ready to stay guard on the roof until dawn. But someone was already there. The shock made his hand slip, and the other one touched the edge without grasping it. Noya felt his stomach rise to his throat as he plummeted down.

  
Tendou’s hand wrapped around his wrist. Noya dangled for a second before finding a foothold, and then he took a deep breath, safe again. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  
“How about we talk when you’re not about to fall to your death?”

  
“Fine!”

  
Once they were both back on steady ground, Noya asked his question again. “I’m here to keep an eye on you two.”

  
“Why?”

  
Tendou blinked slowly. “You were attacked by hunters barely 24 hours ago?”

  
“Did Ushijima send you?”

  
He repeated his blink. “Obviously? I wanted to go guard your blond friend, but Wakatoshi wanted to look over the harbinger of death himself.” He leaned in to whisper unnecessarily, “I think he just wanted to make sure that I didn’t go and try to scare her. Anyway, what were you coming to the roof for? Did you hear me?”

  
“Are you kidding me? You’re, like, invisible! You have to teach me how you do it! And you can’t run away from me this time!”

  
Tendou pouted. “I can’t, but I also don’t think I can teach you.”

  
“How did you get so sneaky?”

  
“I just developed the skill over time. But you are a very loud little guy. I don’t know that you could do it.”

  
“You are a very loud tall guy and you can do it! C’mon, just try!”

  
“Okay,” he pointed at the other side of the rooftop, “you watch over that side, and be really, really quiet.”

  
Noya raised an eyebrow. “I feel like you are just trying to get rid of me.”

  
“Of course not! Now, you can get back in your friend’s house, or you can get over there, and try to trick me into thinking you don’t exist.”

  
“Oka-“

  
He shushed him. “There could be hunters anywhere! C’mon, kid.”

  
“Kid? I’m only a year younger than you!” Tendou snorted and, before he could say anything else, Noya turned and headed for the other side of the roof. “You know what? It’s a good idea. Pretend I don’t exist.”

  
Noya looked over the city. The night lights and the swinging leaves from the trees were hypnotic, and he wished he could be enjoying the view with Asahi, instead of this guy he barely knew and who didn’t seem to like him much.

  
“Oh, I forgot!”

  
“To pretend you don’t exist?”

  
“To thank you for catching me. You saved my life.”

  
Tendou shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Wanna switch?”

  
He nodded and they traded sides. The view was pretty much the same. There was no sound besides the wind, the insects, and the occasional taxi. And a phone ringing in the distance.

  
“I found the point of impact, but I didn’t find it.” Noya didn’t hear the answer at the other end of the line, but that one voice was all he needed. “I’m sorry. Yeah, yeah, I know. Sorry.”

  
“Hey, Tendou? That’s a hunter.”

  
He looked out over his shoulder, finding the silhouette in a nearby street. “How do you know?”

  
“It’s one of the two who attacked us. I think he was the gunman. There was an older dude and a young one, and that’s for sure the young one’s voice.”

  
“Are you sure?”

  
“I said for sure!” The hunter started walking away. “We have to follow him.”

  
Tendou combed his hair up with his fingers, evaluating his options. “Okay. Stay here.”

  
“No way!”

  
“Yes way. You stay here and look after your boyfriend,” he said, taking his phone on one hand and holding onto the pipes Noya had used to climb up with the other. “Leave this to the adults.” With that, he swung his body over the ledge and dropped out of sight.

  
Noya leaned and saw him slide down the wall of the building and jump into a run. “I don’t think I take orders from you, buddy,” he muttered to himself. He wasn’t actually sure, so he decided to stay out of sight from both the hunter and the werewolf as he followed them.

  
He took some steps back to get a running start, and jumped over to the next building. Noya wished he had a drone or something to record himself. For a second, he thought about starting a parkour channel on YouTube, but he decided against it. Asahi would get a heart attack.

  
Noya leaped and climbed and finally found himself on the main street rooftops. Tendou was walking in the shadows at a distance from the hunter, who was… just getting on a motorcycle.

  
The red-head stopped at a red light as the hunter drove away. He put his phone in his back pocket, looked up and met Noya’s eyes. “Get down here, will you? I don’t feel like shouting up at you.” Guiltily, Noya rappelled down the building. “I’m not getting rid of you, am I?”

  
“No.”

  
“You are a very annoying little guy,” he sighed, crossing his arms behind his neck. “But you seem to be fast too.”

  
“I am!”

  
“Good.” The light turned green for pedestrians, and he took off running without a warning.

  
Noya caught up to him, and then they both sped up. Traffic was very sparse, and between the smell of the exhaust and the lonely noise of the engine, they followed the hunter easily. They left the city behind and ended up running in complete darkness, catching the motorcycle’s lights here and there between the vegetation that surrounded the road. And then, they found their destination.

  
Noya and Tendou stood before a valley divided into two halves by the road they’d been following. There was an old abandoned farm there, and Noya could count five buildings under the moonlight. The motorcycle disappeared into the closest one. Tendou took a picture.

  
“What do we do?”

  
He didn’t answer as he texted. He waited another few seconds, and then his screen went dark. “We wait.”

  
. . .

  
Noya had decided against bothering Daichi that night, mostly because he didn’t want to get yelled at for being reckless, but he started regretting it once the Shiratorizawa got there. The four werewolves were virtually strangers, very tall, and ignoring him.

  
“Should we wait until morning?” Semi asked.

  
“No,” said Reon, crossing his arms. “We should use the cover of night.”

  
“I should use the cover of night,” Tendou corrected him. “You can be back up. I’ll go alone.”

  
“You are not going alone. Your death has been announced.”

  
“You are so dramatic, Wakatoshi! Maybe blondie was just pranking me!”

  
“She would not do that.” He turned to Noya. “Would she?”

  
“Of course not!”

  
“Then you are not going in.”

  
“Listen,” Tendou put one finger up, “I was the one who found the place.”

  
“We were.”

  
Tendou ignored Noya and lifted a second finger. “I am basically undetectable.”

  
“Unless they see you.”

  
“Shut up, Semi-Semi!” Another finger was raised. “And I want to. Three solid reasons for me to go.”

  
Reon shook his head. “I agree with Ushijima. I don’t like you going alone. This place is probably a fortress. They’ll have the advantage on numbers, they know the terrain, and they have weapons.”

  
“But we can’t go in blind even if we have an army of werewolves. We need intel, and that’s what I do! Recon missions!”

  
“If you insist on going, I am going with you.”

  
“Not a chance,” said Tendou. “You’d probably announce our presence because you’d decide that it wasn’t fair to them that we were listening in. You are too honest to be a spy.”

  
“I’ll go with him.” Four heads turned to Noya. “I’m sneaky-“

  
“Are you?”

  
“-and I have good senses. And I’ll probably be more helpful spying with him than being back-up if he’s discovered.”

  
“Have you talked to Sawamura?” Ushijima asked. Noya didn’t answer. “He does not know you are here, does he?”

  
“I’ll tell him tomorrow! But these guys tried to kill me and Asahi. I’m going. And I don’t take orders from you.”

  
Semi laughed. “You kinda do.”

  
“I think that’s the best you’re getting,” Reon told Ushijima, turning towards the valley. “Here’s what I'm thinking. They both go in. Semi, you take that side. Go down through the fields.” He pointed at the single building that stood to the left side of the road, past the empty fields of tilled soil. “It doesn’t look like it’s being used, so stick close to it. We’ll survey from up here. I’ll take the north-western half and you take this one. That will give us a full oversight of the complex. If any of us see anything happen, we let the others know.” He looked at Tendou and Noya. “And if you are found, get the hell out.”

  
Ushijima sighed. “Nishinoya, I am counting on you to bring him back. He does not have a survival instinct, so make sure he comes back in one piece.”

  
“Yes, sir!” nodded Noya energetically.

  
A miracle happened. Noya received a smile from Ushijima. He couldn’t contain a gasp of wonder, and Reon and Semi laughed.

  
“Tendou, a word?”

  
The red-head and the alpha walked into the forest. Noya realized that the closest thing to a friend he had there had been Tendou. Again, he felt lonely, and he missed Asahi, and he would be lying if he said that he wasn’t a little bit scared. Or a lot.


	8. The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

“Wakatoshi, I’ll be fine,” Tendou said when they were out of earshot. He seemed confident, but Ushijima did not believe it for a second. Just like he was not good at expressing himself, Tendou was an expert at expressing anything he wanted. Especially if it was not what he was really feeling. But Ushijima had not slept in the last two days, and they had been playing a tournament for the past three, and the thought of losing him was terrifying. He felt a tear roll down his cheek. “Oh, don’t get mushy with m-“ A kiss shut him up. Tendou grabbed his jacket to pull him closer, but he was also the first to break away from the kiss. “If I don’t go, it’s going to be dawn,” he said with a fake laugh. “And don’t kiss me like that.”

  
“You did not like it?”

  
“That was a goodbye kiss. It’s bad luck.”

  
“Then do not let it be one.” He hugged him tight. He did not feel he could let go. “Come back to me.”

  
“I will.”

  
“By any means necessary. They will not hesitate. If you need to kill to survive, you do it.”

  
Tendou gave him a sad smile that was, at least, real. “I don’t know that I can.”

  
“Then let me go with you and I will do it.”

  
“It’s safer for both of us if you don’t.”

  
Ushijima knew he was right, but that did not mean he was happy about it. “Just come back, Satori.”

  
“I always do. I’m like a sexy boomerang!”

  
They got back to the group, wished each other good luck, and parted for their respective posts. And then, Ushijima started the madness-inducing wait.

  
He paced his quarter of the valley, finding Reon sometimes where their sectors met. No news was good news, or that is what Reon told him.

  
“You know Tendou, and that Nishinoya kid seems pretty similar. If something was wrong, we would have heard the ruckus.”

  
Well, the moment arrived. Ushijima heard the ruckus. He could not see Tendou or Nishinoya, but he could see a man walk out to the roof of the building next to the garage, with a big rectangular case in hand. While he ran, circling the valley, the man started assembling a sniper rifle.

  
Ushijima got to his vantage point already transformed and jumped. He fell a little short of the rooftop, but he dug his claws on the façade to stop his fall and climbed the rest of the way. The hunter heard him leap over the edge, but he was not fast enough. Ushijima took his head with one hand and slammed it against the corner of the ledge. As he scanned the grounds, he heard his heartbeat stop. He did not feel sorry.

  
The sound of doors opening. A blur, there, running out of the farthest building. A bigger one exiting right behind it, a shock of red shining in the stark light of the floodlights.

  
Ushijima jumped out of the building, landed with a roll, and ran after them. The world was in slow motion. Semi came into view, flying out of the fields. He started running along the road and instructed them to go towards the left, back to Sendai. To his right, he heard a crack. Reon threw aside a pistol and sprinted away before the hunter he had fought off touched the ground.

  
As soon as he turned to look at the two escaping werewolves again, Tendou dropped to the ground. Ushijima recognized too late the sound of a muffled gunshot, but he was not sure the direction it had come from. He stopped hearing anything at all. He could only think of one thing, and he would not allow himself to think it.

  
Nishinoya turned around and looked at Tendou. He froze. Reon got to him first, threw him over his shoulder and pointed towards the city. The little guy did not move. Semi had also been running for Tendou, so he grabbed Nishinoya’s arm and dragged him. He finally reacted and started sprinting away with them. Ushijima saw dust kick up before him. They were shooting at him. He ran harder, catching up with the group, and stayed behind Reon. The white of his Shiratorizawa jacket had darkened with Tendou’s blood. Ushijima’s vision blurred and he heard a growl. It had come from his own throat.

  
“He’s alive!” Reon’s voice seemed to reach him from a different dimension. “Wakatoshi, he’s alive!”

  
The memory of the banshee’s scream rang in his ears. He turned around, ready to throw himself at the closest hunter, but they were not being followed. The surprise of it cleared his head. They had reached the peak of the valley, and there were no more bullets coming towards them.

  
Still, they did not let up. They ran until they got to Sendai, and they kept running downhill. Shiratorizawa Academy was still too far, but Karasuno High was closer, and Ushijima pondered breaking into its infirmary, but Nishinoya made a choice for him.

  
“Coach Ukai! Coach Ukai, we need help!”

  
Ushijima saw that they were at the Sakanoshita store, where they had found the Karasuno pack with the mysterious alpha what felt like years ago.

  
“Nishinoya? What the hell do you think-“ The coach looked down from a window and his expression changed immediately. “Nothing, mom! Don’t worry, I got it. It’s one of my…” The conversation got lost as he got back inside.

  
Semi helped Reon lay Tendou on the sidewalk. He groaned in pain. Reon lifted the wet fabric of his t-shirt to reveal a gunshot wound to the left of his spine.

  
“The bullets are full of mountain ash,” said Nishinoya, his voice shaking as much as Tendou was. “You have to get it out. He can’t heal.”

  
“What the hell happened?” The Karasuno coach opened the door, followed by the jarring sound of bells. He caught sight of the wound. “Hunters?”

  
“We found where they’re hiding!”

  
“And you went in? Are you stupid? Are all of you stupid?” He shook his head like he was shedding off his anger. His blond mane looked like a halo without the headband he always wore. “Don’t stay out here, c’mon.” Semi held Tendou by the shoulders and Reon took his legs. “There’s a bathroom there, to the left.” He crossed the mountain ash desk and disappeared down to the storage room. Nishinoya followed him.

  
Ushijima walked behind his teammates in silence. He was listening intently to Tendou’s heartbeat. The bathroom was quickly crowded by his three friends, so he stayed outside. Reon held Tendou up while Semi took the stained shirt off of him. He opened the faucet and cupped water in his hands to clean the wound. Reon kept talking to Tendou. He looked dazed and he was not answering, but he was conscious. Ushijima’s hands were shaking, so he cracked his knuckles, one by one, and when he did all ten, he started over.

  
“Everybody out!” They rested Tendou against the wall and obeyed. The coach was carrying a first aid kit that he set on the floor. “You’re gonna be okay, kid. Can you turn around for me?” Tendou tried, but lost balance. He slid down the wall, but Ushijima stepped into the small space and caught him in time. “Okay, I can work with this. Noya, the red bottle. Yup, that’s it. Hand it over.” Ushijima took a red glass vial and gave it to the coach. He uncorked it and poured it carefully in and around the wound. Tendou moaned in pain and Ushijima started running his fingers through his hair, eyes fixed on the wound. “Cover his mouth. That was a disinfectant and a painkiller, but it’s not going to be enough.”

  
Ushijima tried to take on his pain, but the bullet seemed to be keeping that supernatural ability away too, so he just cried in silence, feeling useless. The only thought on his mind as he held Tendou down while Ukai fished the bullet out was how he would kill every hunter in that farm one by one to make sure he got the one who had hurt him.

  
Tendou did not lose consciousness. His shaking got less violent once the coach got the bullet out. He finished by applying some herbal compresses and dressed the wound that was no longer bleeding.

  
“He lost a lot of blood. Noya, get a bottle of water and something bready. And something with meat.” Ukai washed the red away. It was to his elbows. “And this goes without saying, but he needs to rest.”

  
Ushijima picked Tendou up in his arms. He was able to absorb his pain now, and it hit him in a wave that made him stumble, but he didn’t fall or drop him. Semi and Reon had prepared a row of chairs for him to lie down on. “Thank you. Anything you need, just tell me."

  
"Don’t worry about it, kid,” said the coach, rolling his aching shoulders. He had not been called a kid in so long that being reminded of how young they all were almost made him break down again. But he did not have time for that. Tendou was alive.

  
Nishinoya came back and Reon took the groceries from him. “You are okay, right?”

  
“Yes,” he was crying, but he was not hurt. “We have to do something before Sunday. That’s when they are having a meeting to get more hunters to come to Sendai. We have to stop them before they do that.”

  
“We need more time,” said Reon, holding Tendou’s head up straight while Semi held the water to his mouth. “It’s already Thursday. We have to make a plan, convince people to fight with us. It’s too soon.”

  
“Saturday is the latest we can do,” insisted Nishinoya, “or there will be even more hunters to deal with.”

  
“If they don’t hear from them, more might come anyway.”

  
“Even so! They talked about an armory. We can sabotage their weapons, if nothing else. That could buy us time to come up with something.”

  
“Saturday would be the best day to do it,” agreed Semi. “Most of the werewolves that would come to our aid are either students or work jobs, or both. Not everyone is willing to get out there at any hour of any day like us.”

  
“Saturday is the full moon.”

  
There was a moment of silence after Ushijima’s words.

  
“We will be stronger.”

  
Reon nodded at Semi. “But that also means less people on our side. Whoever doesn’t have control under the full moon can’t help even if they want to.”

  
“What if they change their plans?” asked Ushijima, feeling the exhaustion catch up to him. He sat on the floor next to Tendou and took the water bottle from Semi. “If I were them, I would assume that they heard anything that was said.”

  
Nishinoya shook his head with enviable energy. “I don’t think so. They already knew that there were werewolves here, right? So the meeting being on Sunday is for some other reason.”

  
“They might leave that place, though,” Semi suggested.

  
“They have their operation set up there, weapons, safety protocols… I would just up surveillance,” said Reon. “Actually,” he took his phone and started typing, “that’s what I’m going to do. I want the perimeter watched. No engaging unless someone gets discovered, but that way we’ll know if they leave, or if more people come in before Sunday, and we can see their routines and get an idea of the numbers they’re working with. Wakatoshi?”

  
“Go ahead.” He rested his head against Tendou’s. “Saturday.”

  
“Well, that’s ironic.” Ukai rubbed at his sleepy eyes. “It’s going to be a red moon. Do you know what they call that?”

  
Tendou laughed, startling everyone. “The Hunter’s Moon.”


	9. Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

“Nishinoya Yuu, if you think I am above chaining you up again, you are sorely mistaken.”

  
By the look on Suga’s face, Hinata had no doubts that he meant it. He also wondered if it was wrong to be a little jealous of him for going on a midnight spy adventure with the cool guys from Shiratorizawa. Given how scared he’d been on his last werewolf mission, it was probably for the best that it hadn’t been him in that situation.

  
“Don’t worry,” Asahi said. Noya was sitting between his legs, and Asahi’s arms were around his waist. Hinata hadn’t seen him not be somehow touching Noya today, except when they had to part for their respective classes. “I’m not sleeping tonight and he’s not going anywhere.”

  
“Like you could stop me!”

  
“I’ll stop you with emotional blackmail.”

  
Noya scoffed. “Dang, you’re good.” He took Asahi’s hand and kissed it. “Daichi, you’re scaring me. Where’s your scolding?”

  
The captain was rubbing Suga’s shoulders, who was still fuming. “Tell me what you learned and then I’ll see if I feel like scolding you too.”

  
After hearing his tale, Hinata was very sure that he preferred his plan of sleeping through the night without getting shot at.

  
“What do you remember about the hunters?” Mr. Takeda asked once Noya seemed done talking. “How many were there?”

  
“I didn’t get a good look when we were spying or when we were running away, but I’d say at least twenty, maybe thirty. The living quarters was the biggest building, so there might have been more that weren’t in the meeting we crashed.”

  
“Did anyone stand out?”

  
“There were two who mostly did the talking. One sounded pretty old and like he was in charge. There was also the other guy who attacked Asahi and I, the one we didn’t follow to the farm,” Noya shivered. “He’s a psycho. He wants to be the one to kill Ushijima. The oldest one kept talking about killing us like it was a duty, and he told the younger one off for saying that there’s nothing wrong with having some fun while cleansing the world from monsters or something like that. He left the meeting to train and ‘let some steam off’ and that’s when he saw us. He smiled like we were a surprise gift. He’s scary. If you see a guy with a shaved head and hand tattoos, run the other way.”

  
“Alright,” said Daichi, “Ushijima has sent a call to action for Saturday. I will go help, but nobody else here has to. And I’d be more comfortable if some of you stayed locked up during the full moon.”

  
Suga rolled his eyes. “I’m obviously going.”

  
“I wanna go,” Tanaka stood up like he was going to give a speech. “I’ve been having an easier time this past moons, and I think I’m ready to-“

  
“We were going to leave you unchained this full moon,” Suga said, making Tanaka yell out in triumph. “We can still change our minds.” He pretended to zip his mouth shut.

  
“I am going too,” nodded Kiyoko.

  
Hinata was torn between wanting to help and being terrified of the hunters. He hadn’t had an encounter with them or their work yet, but still, it felt wrong to let others fight to keep him safe while he hid away.

  
“Me too,” said Kageyama.

  
“Me too!” Daichi and Suga turned to Hinata. The first was surprised, the second, wary. “I was pretty much okay on the last moon! And I want to help. It sounds like we need all the help we can get.”

  
Suga touched his hair nervously. “But you’re so young…”

  
“You’re letting Kageyama go!”

  
The captain made eye contact with Hinata. “If you decide you don’t want to go anymore, you tell us. It’s not a problem, okay? And if you go but you feel like you need to leave, then you get out whenever you need to. Same goes for you,” he said to Kageyama, “I’ll talk to Ushijima and try to keep you two as far from the fray as possible. And you,” he turned to Tsukishima now, “you should stay here. You’re too unstable yet.”

  
“I agree.”

  
“I’m going.”

  
Tsukishima turned his head sharply to look at Yamaguchi, eyes wide. “Like hell you are.”

  
“It’s my fault! It was me in the video that brought them here!”

  
“So you mean it’s my fault. It’s because of me that they caught you on camera.”

  
“That wasn’t your fault!”

  
“Then it wasn’t yours either!”

  
“Guys,” Daichi interrupted their screaming match. “Yamaguchi, do you really want to go? Because I won’t get tired of reminding you that this wasn’t anybody’s fault. Mine, if anyone’s, because I’m responsible for both of you.”

  
Yamaguchi didn’t answer, and Tsukishima put a hand on his knee. “I can’t go because I might end up becoming another problem instead of helping. And if you go, I might… it might happen again. Stay with me.”

  
“Okay. I won’t go.”

  
Noya took a deep breath. “I can’t go.”

  
“Wait, really?” Asahi hugged him tighter. “But you love running headfirst into danger! I was going to go with you and everything…”

  
“No. You’re not going either.” He swallowed. His lower lip was quivering. “When I saw Tendou get shot, I saw you. I can’t do it. I had to watch Ushijima hold him while he fought for his life and you could just see it in his face. He thought he was already dead. I can’t go through that, or have you go through it.”

  
“Okay,” Asahi held him even tighter and Noya hid his face against the crook of his elbow. “Then we’re staying here for the full moon. We’ll look after Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.”

  
“Wait,” Hinata scratched his head. “Ushijima and Tendou are dating?”

  
Tanaka raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, dude. Everyone knows.”

  
“Are all werewolves gay? Or is it all volleyball players?”

  
“Neither,” Tanaka answered, raising his other eyebrow.

  
“Is everyone dating each other except for Kageyama and I?”

  
“No, I’m single.” Tanaka looked at Kiyoko, but she was whispering with Suga and didn’t seem to notice.

  
“Hey, Daichi,” Noya looked up from Asahi’s arm, “can you apologize to Tendou and Ushijima for me?”

  
“What for?”

  
“Ushijima told me that he trusted me to bring Tendou back alive, but when he got shot, I froze. And Tendou saved my life earlier that-“

  
“What do you mean ‘saved your life’?”

  
“It’s a long story. I almost fell off your roof.” Asahi looked about to pass out, and Noya patted his cheek. “Don’t worry about it. Just tell him that I’m sorry and that I owe him.”

  
“You think I can not worry about it? After you almost fell off my roof? Suga, about the chaining him up again thing…”

  
. . .

  
Although filled with tension, the next two days were fairly peaceful for Hinata and the Karasuno pack. And once Saturday night hit, they met in the gym for a tearful goodbye and parted ways. The four who were going to stay back in the gym secured the door and prepared for the long wait. The rest of the team, along with Yachi, Coach Ukai and Mr. Takeda, left for the valley.

  
“Okay, I’ll say it,” Daichi started, looking at their teacher. “I think you should sit it out.

  
“Excuse me?”

  
Daichi apologized. “It might be dangerous for you to turn into a wolf. We left Tsukishima behind because he could have lost control and turned into another threat for us, and I think the same thing applies to you. We are beyond grateful that you want to help, and I also understand that you have history with these hunters, but that makes the situation especially delicate.”

  
“He’s right, Takeda,” agreed Coach Ukai. “You can hang back with me and Yachi. As back-up. You already fought this battle.”

  
Hinata couldn’t read Mr. Takeda’s face. “Alright. As back-up.”

  
“Thank you,” Daichi said, visibly relieved. “There are not many who are fighting with us tonight, so the plan is to start by sending a few people in. Suga and I will be going with the first group-“

  
“And me!”

  
Ennoshita agreed with Tanaka. “I think I speak for everyone when I say that if you go in, we all go.”

  
“Okay, then. I think I hear them up ahead. We’re getting to the meeting point.”

  
It wasn’t a small crowd by any means but still, Hinata couldn’t shake his fear. He was going to go in with everyone else, but he was going to do it while scared to death, and no one could stop him.

  
“How are you always the last ones to arrive? The nerve of some people…”

  
“Oikawa, do not start beef.”

  
Oikawa gasped. “Did you just say ‘beef’?”

  
Ushijima turned to Tendou. “Did I use it wrong?”

  
Tendou was trying to hold back laughter. “Nope! You did great!”

  
“Please, stop teaching him words.” Semi turned around to wipe a tear from his eye.

  
“I apologize,” said Daichi without looking at Oikawa. “So, what’s the plan?”

  
Reon rolled out a hand-drawn map of the valley. “Our main objectives are to sabotage their weaponry and to neutralize the hunters.”

  
“What do you mean by ‘neutralize’?” asked Hinata, wringing his hands together.

  
“The hunters want to wipe us out,” Ushijima said. “That is their only goal. It is us or them, and I intend for us to be the ones left standing. You do not have to participate.”

  
“I want to help! It’s just…”

  
“There are other things we need to accomplish tonight. Like Reon said, we must render their weapons useless. We also need to find as much information as possible. Other hunter groups they might be in contact with, their future plans… Anything we can get our hands on. You do not need to fight them yourself, but do not let your guard down, because they will try to kill you.” He looked up at the red moon, shining alone in the sky. No clouds, no stars. “That is the Hunter’s Moon, and this is the hunters’ stronghold, but make no mistake. This night is ours.” He turned to Reon. “I will leave the rest to you.”


	10. Ready, Set, Go

Out of the five buildings in the farm, the one holding the majority of the hunters and the most dangerous to comb through would be the one further west: the living quarters. For that reason, and because Tendou was the only one present to have seen it from the inside, him and Ushijima would lead the mission there. From Tendou’s incursion, the next building was the cafeteria. It should be empty at that hour, but they had to check all the boxes. East of that, the training grounds and the garage. No promises about them being deserted. At the southern side of the valley there was only one building. Semi had tried to see inside the other night, but all of the windows were boarded up. Reon’s guess was that it held their arsenal.

  
“Semi and I will head to the training building first. You three will take care of the garage.” Ennoshita, Narita and Kinoshita nodded. “Hopefully, there'll be no people there, but it’s a huge warehouse, so keep your eyes peeled.”

  
“Iwaizumi and I will be helping our fearless leader in the living quarters.”

  
“Us, too!” exclaimed Kageyama, making Hinata instinctively duck. When he shouted, it was usually at him.

  
Reon looked between the two of them, then at Ushijima. He shrugged. “Alright. Well, there are two places left.” He turned to Daichi. “One pair takes the cafeteria and the other one, the mystery building.”

  
“Mystery building!” Tanaka raised a hand. “I call dibs on the mystery building!” Kiyoko, his partner for the mission, covered her mouth to hide her amused smile.

  
“Love the enthusiasm,” said Reon, folding the map back up. “Once every group has secured their location, they’ll move on to the living quarters for support. Make sure your phones are silenced and check them often. You are all on the groupchat, right? Good. Send updates, use your designated emoji in each message, and remember to delete every text as soon as you read it or send it. Everyone who stays out here will surround the valley. Nobody gets in or out. Watch the road and watch your backs. Good luck!”

  
There were well-wishes and hugs all around. The thick of the group, comprised mostly by Shiratorizawa, started to spread out through the perimeter.

  
Ushijima called for Hinata and the others to join him and head for their destination. Suga intercepted Oikawa.

  
“If anything happens to Kageyama or Hinata, I’ll make you miss the hunters.”

  
Oikawa smiled sweetly. “They are not my responsibility.” He shook his hand off. “And don’t touch me.”

  
Suga smiled back, just as insincerely, and cleaned the hand that had touched Oikawa against his jeans. “Just be careful out there. Bitch.”

  
“Excuse me?” He turned to Iwaizumi, who had just snorted. “Excuse you?”

  
“Get moving,” was all he said to his alpha.

  
Hinata followed them, waving goodbye to Suga and the rest of Karasuno. Hinata took the chance to look over the abandoned farm. The place was huge, but it would be hard to get away if it got ugly. There was too much open air with nowhere to hide, and an uphill run to get out of the valley and into the safety of the forest. But Hinata was in the same group as Ushijima, and he thought, with some guilt, that he wouldn’t have felt safer with anyone else.

  
“There seem to be two guards in every door,” Ushijima whispered when they were level to the building. “Tendou and I will take care of the ones right there. We will signal you to come meet us. Then, we will split. Oikawa and Iwaizumi, you will start with the ground floor. I want every hunter inside neutralized. If you do not want to kill, make sure they will not surprise you or raise alarms. You will block the other doors as well. This will be the only way out, so remember that. Hinata and Kageyama, you will come with us to the first floor. Tendou saw an office there that seems promising. Find anything there is to find, take whatever seems useful, and let us know when you are done. We will pick you up. Once both floors are secured, we all meet and go downstairs. Does everybody know what they have to do?”

  
Whatever minimized the chances of finding himself face to face with hunters was good in Hinata’s book.

  
“Race you,” Tendou said, starting to stretch. Ushijima took a couple of steps back and jumped. Hinata’s jaw dropped as he covered an absurd amount of distance with that single leap. “Well, that’s just cheating.”

  
He landed before the guards. His left fist made contact with one’s face and he crumpled. The other one tried to raise his rifle, but it bumped against Ushijima’s right arm. He took a hold of it and slammed it against his chin. He hit the ground.

  
Ushijima waved at them.

  
“He’s so irritating.”

  
“Agreed.”

  
Tendou raised a finger at Oikawa as he started walking down the hill. “Watch your mouth.”

  
They regrouped at the door. “I won.”

  
“I saw.” Tendou patted his shoulder. “Congratulations.” He opened the door slowly and peeked. “Alright, the game is on.”

  
There was a set of stairs to each side of the door, so they left Oikawa and Iwaizumi right then and there. They walked slowly, noiselessly, until Tendou stopped before a door. He listened and smiled, turned the knob and pouted. There was a keyhole. Tendou rolled his eyes and slipped his hand into his sleeve, grabbed the knob, and turned it sharply. With a slight thud, it gave way. He opened the door and waved as if presenting it to them.

  
“Be careful, kids.”

  
Hinata walked in and Kageyama closed the door behind him. They were alone.

  
The office was lined with bookshelves, and in them, filing cabinets of every color. That was going to be a pain to go through. On the desk, however, there was a laptop. That would be less boring.

  
Hinata went for the desk. Kageyama got there first and sat down.

  
“Hey-“

  
He shushed him. “Look through the files.” He opened the laptop and started opening drawers. Hinata picked up a binder and set it on the desk. Kageyama showed him a flash drive and he gave him a thumbs up. “It’s password protected.”

  
“Try ‘hunters’.”

  
“Are you stupid?” asked Kageyama. He typed. “It’s not ‘hunters’.”

  
“Try ‘monsterhunter’.”

  
“What?”

  
“It’s a videogame Kenma plays.”

  
Kageyama huffed and typed. “It worked.”

  
He inserted the flash drive and Hinata looked back down to the documents. “You’re welcome, by the way…”

  
“Shut up and read, moron.”

  
Hinata just sighed and went back to it. The binder he was looking at held sheets with personal details of people he didn’t recognize, but could very well be hunters. He could take this one and maybe a couple more, but there were too many here. They would need to come back.

  
The door opened. Kageyama got up from the chair, but Hinata didn’t have a desk to clear. He pulled the figure into the room and shut the door back up.

  
“Please! Please, don’t kill me!”

  
“What?”

  
Kageyama shushed the hunter. He looked about their own age. He was crying. “Please, don’t kill me!” he repeated in a whisper. Kageyama and Hinata looked at each other in confusion. “You are werewolves, right?”

  
“Yes?”

  
“They sent me to get that laptop! I don’t want to fight! I don’t even want to be a hunter, I was just born into the family! If you let me go, I won’t tell anyone I saw you!”

  
They both hesitated for another moment.

  
“Alright. We won’t kill you.”

  
He took Kageyama’s hand and shook it. “Thank you so much! They know you’re here. You need to get out!”

  
“But we didn’t hear any alarms,” said Hinata.

  
“They changed protocol! They are leaving and you should too! There’s a bomb in the basement and they probably already set it off!” Hinata let go of him, and he fixed his jacket.

  
“Then you should leave too.”

  
“You don’t know the half of it!” He was smiling now. “This is my chance! I’m running away! Thank you, guys!” He went for the door, but Kageyama stopped him.

  
“Hey, if you find other werewolves, tell them Hinata and Kageyama sent you. Tell them we said you’re good.”

  
“Thank you! Good luck!”

  
With that, he left. Hinata run his hands through his hair. “There’s a bomb? Kageyama, there’s a bomb.”

  
“I heard him.” He opened the door. “Warn everyone. I’m going to look for it.”

  
Hinata stopped him. “Are you insane?” He had pulled on him too hard, and they crashed against each other. “You could die!”

  
“We could all die! Tell everyone and get out!”

  
“Wait!” He did, and Hinata’s breath caught. But it could be now or never. He stood on his tiptoes and kissed him.

  
The kiss ended and Hinata took a step back, cheeks flaming. “What the hell was that for?”

  
“I…”

  
“You’re kissing me because you think I’m going to die?”

  
“Please, don’t die mad at me! I’m sorry!”

  
“Moron!” He looked at the door again and shook his head. Hinata was pulled in for another kiss. “Let everyone know about the bomb! I’ll see you later!”

  
Hinata found himself alone in the office. He had an involuntary smile that he couldn’t shake off. He ran out of the office, but stopped immediately when he heard the sounds of fighting at the end of the hall. Behind him, there were running steps approaching.

  
“There’s a bomb! What the hell are you doing here?”

  
Hinata blinked at Iwaizumi. “How do you know about the bomb?”

  
“I was the one who sent the text?” Hinata looked blankly at him. “Did you not read the text? How do you know about the bomb then?”

  
“A hunter told us. Kageyama went to the basement to find it.”

  
Iwaizumi run his hands through his hair and cursed. “I can never get a break,” he muttered under his breath as he grabbed Hinata’s arm. “Come on! You’re getting out of here!”

  
“But Ushijima and Tendou-“

  
“Can handle themselves! Let’s go!”

  
. . .

  
Ushijima was exhausted, and in pain, and filthy with blood, his and the hunters’. Tendou was also breathing heavily, but they were keeping a good rhythm. He took care of their enemies in non-lethal ways, and Ushijima finished the job.

  
They entered the last room in the floor. It was a bedroom, but it was empty. “I think we might be done, Wakatoshi.”

  
“Wrong.” There was a loud thump, and Ushijima turned in time to see Tendou fall. There was a darker shade starting to stain the red of his hair. The hunter kicked him aside. He had a katana hanging from his belt, and he lifted a gun with a tattooed hand and shot Ushijima twice.

  
“Hey, didn’t I kill this one already? Anyway,” he said with a psychotic grin, “I’ve been waiting for this.”

  
Ushijima’s legs gave way. His knees hit the floor and his head dropped down. He could see two gunshots on his chest. He tasted blood.

  
“I really wanted to be the one to kill you, you know?” He kept the gun ready, watching out for any sudden movement. “I thought that you’d put up more of a fight, but oh, well. Never meet your heroes.” Ushijima coughed and saw red splatter all over the wooden floor. “Hey, can you get the fangs out? You look a little lame right now, and I want to keep your head as a trophy.”

  
. . .

  
Tanaka busted the lock to the building open with a kick and held the door for Kiyoko. She went in first, and then he cursed himself. He should have offered to go first! They were in a life or death situation!

  
“This is the armory,” she said looking around in the darkness with her beautiful, shining yellow eyes. “It’s… a lot.”

  
Tanaka agreed, scratched his head. “Wow,” is all he said. They walked around. There were two stories, and all around them were boxes and shelves filled with guns of all shapes and sizes, ammunition… It was a nightmare. “How do we get rid of all of this?”

  
Kiyoko looked up from a crate and smiled. “I have an idea.”


	11. Blessed Be The Boys Time Can't Capture

“It’s not right. They’re just kids.”

  
“You were around their age too, weren’t you?”

  
Takeda smiled sadly. “Yes. A werewolf’s life expectancy is awfully short. I’m already one of the lucky ones.” Ukai gave him a look. “I mean… They’ll be fine.”

  
“Yeah! Of course.” Yachi was shaking, but she tried to smile.

  
“Are you getting any of your… bad feelings?”

  
She met Ukai’s eyes. “I… There’s a lot of death down there. It’s hard to tell, but I think our side is okay.”

  
“You screamed for that Tendou kid, didn’t you?”

  
She cocked her head to the side, like she was listening to something. “He is alive.”

  
“Maybe you just screamed as a premonition of this whole night,” Ukai said, shrugging. “I’ve been reading up and asking around, but there isn't much confirmed banshee lore. There are very few of you.”

  
“Great.”

  
“Well, being special is good, isn’t it?” Takeda tried to cheer her up. He turned around suddenly. Ukai saw his eyes flash red. A boy walked up to them with gleaming yellow eyes, matching his hair. Two shaved lines travelled around his head. “Who are you?”

  
He stood next to them and looked down at the valley. “Has it started?”

  
“He asked you a question, kid.”

  
He looked at Ukai with murder in his eyes. “I’m the one they tried to capture. Where should I go to find some hunters?”

  
. . .

  
Another gunshot rang out. Ushijima felt a faint sting on his left shoulder. If he was going to die here, at least he would die with Tendou. The thought gave him a strange sense of peace.

  
“I wonder what people will think about the volleyball promise going missing with half its team. Maybe my people will be so nice as to cover everything up for you. I don’t care though. I’m just here for the fun.” He looked at Ushijima expectantly, but he was so light-headed that he was having a hard time registering his words. “Anyway, I’m getting bored of this. I'd hoped it would be a bit more epic. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to chop your head off.”

  
Ushijima fought to keep his eyes open. He was getting so weak that he must have been hallucinating, because the hunter’s head seemed surrounded by a red halo, like an aura of blood.

  
He followed the movement of his hand. Ushijima realized that the tattoos were tallies. When it got to the sword’s sheath, it only grasped air. The hunter looked down at the missing katana and found it piercing through his stomach. He took a breath to scream, but a clawed hand appeared in front of his throat. When his neck was visible again, three red lines crossed it, like a magic trick. They quickly became one thick red waterfall. He dropped on his face.

  
Tendou was looking at his bloodied hand, paler than Ushijima had ever seen him. He gagged and leaned to the side to throw up.

  
Ushijima tried to get up, but he ended up falling against his right arm. He stopped trying and closed his eyes. He focused his energy on healing. “You saved my life.” Tendou was still busy being sick. “Thank you.”

  
“The bullets,” he panted, wiping his mouth on his jacket, “we have to take them out.”

  
“You do not need to worry about that.” Ushijima’s arm traveled over his back. “He was too close. They all went straight through. I can feel them healing. Are you okay?”

  
He touched the wound buried in his hair and winced. “I’ll be.”

  
“Thank you.”

  
Tendou’s eyes welled up. The tears cleared some of the blood off his face. “I saw you on the floor and my body just did that. Maybe I am a monster.”

  
“You would not hate the idea of killing so much if you were.”

  
“I didn’t have to think about it! And I don’t even know why I care, when my soul is already tainted anyway!”

  
“Your soul is beautiful.” Ushijima flashed his eyes red and Tendou’s lit up blue in response. “All of you is beautiful. Come here, help me up.”

  
He walked over to him and threw his good arm over his shoulders. As soon as their skin made contact, he felt Tendou start taking his pain away from him. When he began to raise, Ushijima pulled him back down and kissed him. “Wakatoshi! I’m disgusting right now!”

  
“It was worth it. I felt it completed the moment.”

  
Tendou laughed and shook his head. “You are so romantic.”

  
. . .

  
Kageyama found no one on his way to the basement. Both stairwells ended in a corridor with a single door in it. He opened it and froze.

  
“Oh, no.” Oikawa held a beeping box in his hands. The bomb. “I’m not dying with you. Get out.”

  
Kageyama clenched his jaw. “We have to get it out of here.”

  
“And risk it going off where there could be more victims? Just leave. I have to think.”

  
“Do you know how to deactivate a bomb?”

  
“Clearly not!”

  
“Then let’s both think!” He walked over to him and Oikawa tried to hide the bomb from Kageyama. “Stop that!” He got a hold of it, and they struggled to get it away from the other. “Why doesn’t it have a countdown?”

  
“Because this is not a movie, Tobio! Just get out!”

  
“Let go! I’ll throw the bomb in the fields! There’s no one there!”

  
“And what if it explodes before you do that, genius?”

  
“Oh, please! If I died, you’d be happy about it!”

  
“If you die, I can’t beat you!”

  
“If you die, you can’t either, genius!”

  
The door opened again. Iwaizumi’s face was completely red. “What the fuck are you two doing!?”

  
“We were…”

  
“… talking about how to diffuse the bomb.”

  
Oikawa nodded. “In a polite and friendly manner.”

  
“I could hear you!”

  
“Then get this dumbass out of here!” Oikawa pulled the bomb out of Kageyama’s grip.

  
“Oh, he’s the dumbass?” Iwaizumi’s fist hit the door, and it bounced several times between the wall and his hand. “There’s a ‘stop’ button right there!”

  
Kageyama and Oikawa both looked down at once. There was a series of buttons along the side facing Iwaizumi, and one of them was labelled ‘STOP’. In red letters.

  
Oikawa smiled. “I knew that, obviously. I was waiting for Tobio to find it. It’s called a teaching moment.”

  
“Just fucking push it!”

  
Kageyama raised his hand and Oikawa slapped it away to push the button himself. The beeping stopped. “There, I saved the day. Let’s get out of-“ An explosion shook the room, making the light flicker. “We’re dead. Oh, my God, we’re dead! I killed us!”

  
“We’re not dead, idiot!” Iwaizumi took a hold of both of their arms and dragged them with him. “Let’s go!”

  
. . .

  
Tanaka was lying face down on the dewy earth, his ears ringing. Her plan had worked. The two grenades they had flung into the armory had set off a chain reaction with the dozens of others they’d scattered all over the place, and the building had burst like a powder keg struck by a stray spark.

  
They had been sent flying from the shockwave, and Kiyoko was half on top of him. He felt her roll off and turned his head. She was looking at the red moon and it reflected double on her glasses, two other full moons on her eyes. The sound of her laughter slowly replaced the temporary deafness. Nothing had ever felt so beautiful.

  
“Are you okay?”

  
She raised her arms up, pumping her fists at the sky. “I’ve never been better!”

  
Tanaka started laughing with her. The building was a mess of flames, and the concrete walls started caving in. “That was so cool. You are so cool.”

  
“You were pretty cool yourself.” A compliment from Kiyoko. His mouth gaped like a fish trying to breathe out of the water. He felt a little like that too. “Come here.”

  
He gasped as her lips closed over his. She was still laughing when she pulled away. “I didn’t kiss you back. I forgot to kiss you back! I’m so sorry!”

  
“It’s fine.” She was still giddy with adrenaline, and Tanaka couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He didn’t want to miss a second of it. “You just need some practice.”

  
“Marry me!”

  
She laughed even harder. He had already proposed to her once before and, like now, the words didn’t go through his brain first. Just from his heart, straight to his lips. “We’ll see how it goes.”

  
That was a huge improvement from her previous answer. Tanaka got to his feet. The fields were lower than the road, so they’d been blind for a while now. He surveyed the northern half of the valley. There was some movement and a sound. An engine. Kiyoko started to get up just as he saw the headlights.

  
. . .

  
“They’re getting away!” Takeda pointed at the car speeding out of the garage. A silhouette Ukai recognized as Ennoshita ran to the exit, but stopped to rest against the doorway. His leg didn’t look right.

  
“Takeda,” Ukai started, but he was already gone.

  
The teacher broke into a run and jumped, landing as a wolf. The blond kid followed suit. They were covering the distance quickly, even against a vehicle. Yachi gasped and grabbed onto Ukai’s jacket. “It’s him. Mr. Takeda is going to die here.”

  
Ukai’s legs sprang into action, sprinting downhill faster than he’d run in years. Banshees’ wails weren’t always accurate. The future was never set in stone. But he’d never catch up to them in time.

  
“Takeda, get out of there!”

  
The wolf jumped towards the car. It looked like he’d missed, but the car skidded and overturned. Takeda went around the passenger’s side and ripped a door from its hinges. A hunter climbed out of the driver’s side and aimed a shotgun at him, but the blond kid surprised him from behind. He crushed his head between his hands like a grape.

  
Ukai was finally gaining on them. “Takeda, get out! Yachi said you’re gonna die!”

  
He dragged someone else out, looked at the face, and growled. He broke his neck and went for the other door. A hunter run out of it and sped away. The kid followed him. Ukai, feeling like he was going to throw up his own lungs, watched in horror as the last door opened and an old man rolled out of the car with difficulty.

  
The wolf roared and jumped over the car. The old hunter brought a pistol up and pressed on the trigger. Takeda landed on him as gunshots rang out, one after the other. He brought his claws down. The old man’s head rolled away from his body.

  
The wolf fell on its side.

  
“Mr. Takeda!”

  
That was Tanaka’s voice. Ukai was almost there. Kiyoko showed up behind Tanaka and quickly ran past him. She got there first.

  
“Stop the bleeding! You have to stop the bleeding!” Ukai finally made it. The black fur was matted down, but he could see at least four points of entry, scaringly close to where he guessed the heart of a wolf would be. He pressed his hands over them. “Shit! I left my bag with Yachi! Kiyoko, go get it, quick!”

  
She put a hand on his shoulder. “We’re too late.”

  
“No, we’re not. We just have to take the bullets out and he’ll start healing on his own.”

  
“It’s too late.”

  
Ukai stopped. He could only hear his own quickened breath. He tried to find a pulse, but he wasn’t a veterinary. He pressed around the chest, the neck of the wolf. Nothing.

  
He met Kiyoko’s eyes and she just shook her head. She knelt next to him and wept silently. Tanaka took his other side, threw an arm around his shoulders. He was sobbing and his face was upturned, to avoid seeing Takeda.

  
Ukai raised his eyes to the sky. Clouds were starting to cover the red moon, like she also couldn’t bear to look.


	12. Lay Me Down On A Bed Of Roses (Epilogue)

The forest was silent except for their footsteps. Hinata walked with Kageyama, holding each other’s hand, a bouquet of flowers on the other. The sun was shining through the trees, and it made Hinata angry. It didn’t feel right that the day looked so beautiful, when it felt so dark.

  
Ushijima was leading the Karasuno pack to the place they would bury Takeda. When the remains of the pyres that had burned the corpses of Takeda’s pack had been found, the ashes had been collected and buried in a small clearing in the forest.

  
They got to the place and Ushijima stepped aside, letting them go on alone. The former and current coaches lead the procession, followed by Daichi and Suga and the rest of the pack. They spread around the border of trees. A fresh grave had been dug in the center. The grass in the clearing was a different color, and purple flowers grew on it. Hinata had never seen them before.

  
Four Shiratorizawa werewolves entered the space last, carrying Takeda’s body, wrapped in a white satin sheet, on a makeshift stretcher. He had stayed a wolf after death. They carefully laid him down and left. Ushijima nodded wordlessly to the Karasuno pack, and the five of them walked away.

  
Old Coach Ukai made as if to speak, but he only managed a strangled sound. His grandson rested a hand on his shoulder, and the retired druid joined him in his crying. He was mourning Takeda for the second time, but it didn’t seem to Hinata that practice made it any easier.

  
Daichi lifted his bouquet, broke a lily off its stem and threw it in the empty grave. Suga was next. He snapped a red rose and kissed it before letting it flutter down. The pack joined in the flower rain, and soon, the bottom of the grave was covered in a rainbow of petals.

  
The captain wiped his face and started towards Takeda. The youngest Ukai followed him and, together, they walked his body over to the grave. They knelt down to get as close as possible, and his body landed without a sound, the flowers breaking his fall.

  
Their coach sniffled and looked at Takeda one last time.

  
“He’s with his family again.”


End file.
